Three Pond Error – So What?

The detention ponds in The Preserve, Eastwood One, and Eastwood Two were intended to function as a single integrated system. However, an engineering error was made during the design process, resulting in the ponds being undersized for the task. The error was not caught during the original permitting process, and the permit was approved. Five years later, the error was caught by engineers at SJRWMD, and corrective actions were taken.

 
When the history of the Heritage Oaks Blvd/Doherty Drive project was presented to the city council in 2018, the presenter carefully avoided mentioning the error and the five-year gap.

 

One assumes the city’s rationale for the omission was that this was just ancient history. What purpose would it serve to reveal the information if the error was corrected? It would only get people upset. Maybe better to just let sleeping dogs lie.
 

Maybe not.
 

As late as October 2016, well after the discovery of the three-pond error, there was still real estate available in Eastwood Two for expansion of one of the detention ponds, as you can see in the overhead photo. And there was room in the southeast corner for an emergency exit onto Fell Road. Presumably, the developer was liable for the engineering error, so the city might have been able to salvage the situation by insisting on an expansion of the pond, or an emergency access capability, or both, at no cost to the city.

So possibly, by sweeping the error under the rug, the city passed up worthwhile opportunities. 

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